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EASTLAKE, Ohio — Phyllis Ferguson can't forget the clinking, clanking sound she would often hear at her Chardon home nearly everyday.

The sounds were from her son, Demetrius Hewlin, exercising and lifting weights in their home near Chardon High School.

"He was a health nut; his body was a temple," Ferguson said.

Demetrius died Tuesday at 1 p.m. at MetroHealth Medical Center from the gunshot wound to the back of his head he suffered Monday morning at the high school. His mother, Phyllis, and his stepfather, Tim Ferguson, shared stories about her 16-year-old son, at a news conference Thursday at the Lake County Captains' field in Eastlake.

Ferguson said Demetrius had an intense workout schedule where he exercised five to six times a week in addition to eating the same amount of times everyday. He didn't allow toxins in his body and didn't have any tattoos or piercings, she said.

"I'm going to miss the midnight clank, clank," Ferguson said of his frequent weighlifting.

Ferguson also described Demetrius as a computer nerd who liked to make songs on his computer. She said he liked jazz music and that Erykah Badu was one of his favorite musical artists. He ran track and the high school and planned to play football for Chardon High next year, she said.

Demetrius Hewlin

Thursday was hard on her, Ferguson said, because it was the last time she got to see her son before doctors began the process of removing his organs for donation. His stepdad said one of his organs was set to be delivered to a pediatric facility.

Demetrius made the decision to donate his organs, she said, when he got an ID card at age 13. His mother said she would one day like to meet the people who survived because of his choice.

Ferguson was attending a service Monday morning at the Church of St. Mary in Chardon, near her home, when she learned there had been shootings at the school. During the Mass, she got a phone call from Demetrius' stepsister, Hannah Ferguson.

She stayed in the service and waited for a blessing from the priest. She went to Chardon High School afterward.

When she got to the high school, she was escorted to a room and approached by an FBI official, who took her to the hospital.

The family declined to answer questions about T.J. Lane, the accused shooter. However, Ferguson said she forgives him. She said she doesn't want to carry hate in her heart.

"You have to forgive," she said.

She encouraged parents to talk to their kids and to be mindful about what they consume from social media and other technological devices.

"We need to talk to our children, not at them," Ferguson said.

And, she asked for the public to light a candle for her son on his birthday. He would have turned 17 on March 8.